Discover
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Roberto Leoni
Screenplay -
Mauro Bonanni
Editor -
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Screenplay -
René Cardona Jr.
Executive Producer -
Sergio Arau
Tattoo Designer -
Raúl Sarmiento
Assistant Makeup Artist -
Simon Boswell
Original Music Composer -
Alejandro Luna
Production Design
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Wuchak 8/27/2021 7:23:23PM
_**Life is a colorful psychosexual circus in Mexico City**_ A man ends up in an asylum after a shocking experience as a boy in a traveling circus in Mexico. When he escapes he finds his maimed mother and falls under her negative influence. Guy Stockwell plays the grossly overweight circus owner. Released in 1989-1990, “Santa Sangre” (meaning “Holy Blood”) is a surreal circus fantasy made by cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky, who’s known for “El Topo” (1970) and “The Holy Mountain” (1973). His son, Axel, plays the protagonist here, Fenix. Surreal or not, I love circus/carnival-oriented flicks and this one works well in its bizarre way for the first half, but totally bogs down in the second. The colors are vibrant and there’s a lot of deep symbolism with a Christ figure, a giant snake and so on. The various women are displayed in a creative titillating manner (Thelma Tixou as the tattooed woman, Blanca Guerra as the lithe high wire artist, Sabrina Dennison as the innocent Alma and Gloriella as Rubi) and I suspect this is a key reason why a lot of guys hail the film. Unfortunately, the second half is dreadfully dull. Fenix doesn’t develop as a character in any attention-grabbing way and the story isn’t compelling, unless you find Fenix using his arms to help Mommy interesting. It’s still worth catching if you appreciate eccentric cult flicks that dare to be different, just be prepared for a tedious time in the second hour. The film runs 2 hours, 3 minutes, and was shot in Mexico City. GRADE: C
Adan Jodorowsky
Young FenixBlanca Guerra
ConchaGuy Stockwell
OrgoGustavo Aguilar Tejada
BeggarJacobo Lieberman
Monsignor's SecretaryThelma Tixou
The Tattooed WomanBrontis Jodorowsky
Orderly 1Sergio Bustamante
Monsignor